Your thoughts, opinions, etc...

[NoCoFire]

Greetings,

I got into amateur radio and was licensed in June of 2010 after about 15 years of interest (I finally made the time). I took a study course and was patiently educated by some great guys in one of the local radio clubs. One of the main interests for me was to learn more about radios, repeaters, etc. I found digital modes, specifically dstar and P25, very interesting. We happen to have a dstar repeater in the area. I was all set, got my ticket, saved my pennies and purchased a ID-880H in October of 2010.

This thread was not intended to be a dstar vs non-dstar, I don't have a problem with dstar. The local dstar repeater is not connected to the gateway and from what I understand cannot or will not be connected and is controlled by a local university (didn't know that when I first purchased this radio). So the repeater is just for the local area and only one other ham in this area has dstar that I know about.

For me I feel, after the purchase, that the ID-880H, was not the right radio as I find the menu's and features complicated. I purchased the ez-nifty guide and that was a help but still very confusing. I purchased the programming cable and downloaded the free icom programming software and that was a help but not the ideal set up. I feel so restricted by this radio especially when I hear of all the other people who have other brands and how easy they are (intuitive menus, etc.) to program on the fly.

I have made numerous sat contacts on this radio on ao51 (RIP) and loved that and numerous "attempts" on NA1SS. But im sure I can make numerous contacts on any other brand of radio.

Question: Should I sell this radio while it still has a pretty good resale value?? ($400-$420 on qrz) I can program all of my local vhf repeater channels into my public safety radio.

Thanks

 

[newsphotog]

The ID-880H is best left to program with the software and not by hand. With most any mobile amateur VHF/UHF radio, it's going to be difficult to program without software. Hang on to the 880H. D-STAR is always expanding anyways, you might see a gateway-enabled repeater. It's a good radio, even if you just use analog. If you resell the 880H, you won't get the full price you paid for it and if you end up wanting a mobile radio again later on down the road, then you're going to have to pay full price for another radio.

 

[rico47635]

I cannot remember what it's called, but the company that make the DVDongle also makes a similar device you can use with your radio and computer. With it you can connect to repeaters that do connect to the internet. Yeah, it would be the same as connecting through the local repeater, but you'd still be using your DStar ICOM. I will do some checking to find out what that device is called and post here if someone else doesn't. My guess is that it probly costs as much as the DVDongle.

 

[rico47635]

Well, that didn't take long. LOL! Here it is DV Access Point Dongle

 

[NoCoFire]

Thanks For Your Input

Newsphotog and Rico47635, Thanks for your input. You definitely gave me some things to consider.